You've all screamed for it, and I kept holding it back. I delayed the original version till it was dropped. Now, it's time for me to proudly say that this series is back with a remake. Love me for bringing this back.

I could smell the writer messing with flames.

Changes were made to remodel the characters into a more realistic and likable cast. Not to mention the inconsistencies are cleared up. Each arc will be completed in its entirety before being uploaded on a regular basis. (Basically, if I finish Arc 2 before the following arc, I can freely start uploading the chapters on this thread.) PRE-ARC is the shortest due to its introduction to the members onboard, and will be the first one to be up. Every arc (excluding the pre-arc) will contain, at a bare minimum, five chapters, and, at most, seven chapters. In-between every arc will be banters between all of the shipmates. It will be kept light-hearted and comedic.

Why, you must ask? It's because I had the remake of the prologue sitting in my Word Document's file for far too many months. I can't just let it sit there forever. Yes, it's also because I'm on summer break too. Now let's jam, and I welcome you, both old and new readers, to an adventure filled with the salty sea, cannonballs, and a plot centered around pirates.

Rain poured down on the land, forcing many to hurry and seek for shelter. Bells rang out from nearby as they warn others about the incoming storm that would potentially close the shopping centers early for today. Many wet figures shivered as they hastily shifted indoors. However, in the dark atmosphere of the rural town, two short girls were seen dashing through the rapidly moving crowd.

“Get ‘em!”

Push and shoves were sent towards the pedestrians directions as both men and women cladded in their formal red coat attires followed swiftly after the females. Red suit, black buttons held in its appropriate place to keep the red jacket closed above their thick, white shirt, and black decorated shoulder pads had their hanging designed yarns wildly swinging left and right during the sequence of the chase. White pants worn with their leather black boots, the pair clomped and splashed against the wet cemented ground of the town. In each of the members’ hands, they gripped ahold of wooden muskets with a sharp, knife-like object called bayonet protruding directly under the muzzle of the rifle, ready for usage when the time comes.

“Come back here you two!”

One of the many red coats hollered at the two girls. However, the girls only sprinted faster and faster, putting more distance between the two parties. Stepping in puddles and drenched to the bones, they did not even think about looking over their shoulders at their pursuers.

“They’re gaining on us! Yuko, this is all your fault!” the shorter of the two, Takahashi Minami, blamed as she finally broke out of the huge crowd from behind. The signature white ribbon attached to her brown-haired ponytail bobbed up and down with every step that she took forth. As pants escaped past her lips, she grimaced at how desperately close their enemies were at catching them. “If you hadn’t bumped into me, everything would’ve gone according to the plan!”

With closer inspection, the two females that were running with all their might were dressed in the same exact fashion as the red coats. Unlike Minami, however, the other female had a difference in colors. White as the base color and gold for the accessories for the pads and buttons distinguished the two greatly from each other.

The taller of the two now ran right by her side after breaking away from the clump of pedestrians, grinning with her dimples showing on her cheeks at Minami. Oshima Yuko couldn’t help but let out a chuckle when she saw the other express disappointment.

“Sorry sorry, Takamina~ But…” Eyebrows scrunched together as she reverted her gaze back to the front. “You know… Why should I be bait while you get the money from the bank in disguise? Just because we’re wanted from the government doesn’t exactly mean that I should go in there and distract the guards ALONE!”

“Argh! I already told you that if we both disguised ourselves and go in together, the guards would definitely be suspicious and check us out!” Minami clearly wanted to say more, but those words hardly exited out of her voice box. Mouth slightly a gap, she clamped it shut along with a shake of her head. “Never mind about that. We need to get back on the ship NOW.”

The two became silent, focused on the tensed crisis that could be the end of them if one even dares trip. Boots continued to clomp upon the land as the chasing sequence ensued between the girls and their assaulters.

When they both managed to reach upon the harbor, they saw a couple of the crew members in their white uniforms like Yuko from afar. Although not a single word was spoken from the two running figures, the entire crew knew precisely what kind of predicament they were going to land in. Instantly a couple commands were being barked out from within the ship. Alarmed, all of the girls on board were rushing left and right, back and forth to their designated positions. Some of the members went below the deck to grab a couple of weapons and armory as others scrambled to the opposite direction in order to make preparation for the cannons. Black iron cannons began to stick out on both sides of the ships with their tips ready to spit their deadly projectiles at any given time. Anchors at this point proceeded to be lifted from the water by a few members as both Minami and Yuko approached the ship, along with a large quantity of soldiers following them from a good distance behind.

Two of the many individuals, Maeda Ami and Takajo Aki, rushed over to the wooden platform that laid between the end of the harbor and their ship. Heavily drenched figures in comparison to the others on board managed to dash up and onto the ship with ease. Now on the wooden ship, Minami then ran her way into the quarter deck as Yuko herself stayed behind to assist in pulling the board back. All three managed to pull it back in the nick of time, seeing as how two of the unlucky red coats tumbled and fell forward into the seawater.

The short female dodged the members that were in her way and gently shoved them aside as she made her way towards the destination. Upon reaching up to the huge wooden wheel, she heard a status report from her partner that now stood from nearby.

“The anchor has now withdrawn, gunpowders remain dry, and all cannons are set and ready,” Maeda Atsuko proclaimed with her white gloved hands held behind her back. A glance shot over at the drenched Minami, a small smile formed on her wet face as she gave a single nod. “We’re ready to set sail whenever you are, Captain Takahashi.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about! You all heard Acchan, folks! Set sail and let’s get the hell out of here!”

A huge roar of agreement derived from down below and those around her increased the morale of everyone on board. Even cheers were heard beneath the deck from a couple members right before the hatch safely clicked shut.

At the order of their captain, four of the crewmates, Miyazawa Sae, Akimoto Sayaka, Kuramochi Asuka, and Yagami Kumi, split up into two groups and proceeded to climb up on the shrouds. It wasn’t to say that it was easy for the storm that they were faced with hindered their usually fast pacing. Regardless of the difficulties, this wasn’t enough to stop the four.

Upon reaching to their respective positions, they gave a signal to Atsuko that they were ready. The black haired female quickly got the message and immediately relayed it towards her partner.

“Just say the word, Minami.”

Almost as if on cue after the statement, lightning struck from the background as the rain pounded even harder on the crew. A couple members physically and verbally expressed their displeasure, but this did not phase the captain. She merely clenched her jaw before separating them.

“Now… Drop it all on full sail!” Minami barked as she rapidly used both hands to twist the huge wheel 360 degrees to the right twice. All muscles put forth into making it turn as fast as possible, she felt and heard a clunk as it lock on to its farthest rotation cycle possible. In that same moment, the sails from above dropped both the foresail and the main. Thanks to the wind direction being in their favor, the wet white sheets were quickly blown forward, pushing the ship onward.

Minami managed to drag the ship away from the harbor and, using the strong gust to their advantage, they soon found themselves a couple hundred feet away from the land they once anchored nearby.

“We can’t rest now, captain,” a somewhat high-pitched girl’s voice was heard on her left. “I highly doubt the enemies would let us go that easily.”

While the brown-haired female readjusted her grip and restored the steering wheel’s balance, her dark brown eyes flickered over to Watanabe Mayu. With her so-called ‘goggles’ resting on her forehead, the young twin tail was also seen exchanging glances with the leader. A hand reached up to grab ahold of the dripping wet plastic goggles. In one swift motion, it then laid over the pair of glistening eyes as she diverted her attention back to her swivel cannon. (A rather light, yet weak weapon, it was more efficient when its sharp accuracy was needed in close encounters.)

The warning that the youngster has spoken of should not be ignored. She wasn’t wrong, and was proven with evidences at that very moment.

From the corner of Minami’s eyes, she saw a dark foreign object in the midst of the thundering storm. Forced to squint, she heeded more attention on the left side of the ship in order to identify. Seconds passed before the captain realized they was one ship—no, there was actually a couple ships; a total of three boats heading straight at their directions.

“Shit, this isn’t what I expected. They’ve called upon their ships to come after us, huh?” Unexpectedly she felt a hand smack behind her head, causing the short female to momentarily release hold of the wheel to grab her now-throbbing head. “O-Ow!”

“Watch your foul language, Bakamina, and look to the right,” Atsuko scolded, then pointing at the direction opposite of the side where Mayu stood. As Minami followed her partner’s request, she glanced to the right.

Shimazaki Haruka was at the second swivel cannon on that particular side of the ship. Unlike Mayu, who wore a goggle, she herself did not wear any sort of accessory similar of the other girl. However, she did let out a gasp as her cannon was aiming directly at a huge ship that was dangerously approaching them at high speed. If this were a cartoon, Minami’s jaw would’ve dropped till it came into contact with the wooden floor of the ship.

“Are you serious!?” The girl retracted both of her hands and returned their holds on two of the many wheel’s handles while yelling out to the active members on deck. “Fire! Fire your cannons at both sides!”

They all scrambled around as the thundering sound of the cannons rivaled even nature’s lightning strikes. Cannonballs were fired in a linear fashion at the approaching ships, and many managed to make contact with the smaller three ships. An explosion occurred from one of the three smaller ships. It was immediately followed by flames that flared through the dark stormy night despite the large amount of rain pouring down upon them all.

“Reload!”

Another key member, Minegishi Minami, commanded as she and the others hastily grabbed the more cannonballs. On both sides of the captain and co-captain, Haruka and Mayu were frantically shooting at their opponents. They rapidly restocked their ammos and repeated the same process in a much faster rate than the heavy duty versions. As for the very front of the ship, Minami faintly saw in the storm two other members that were assigned to the other half of the four swivel cannons. Matsui Jurina and Shinoda Mariko, back-to-back, allowed bursts of cannonballs to exit in fast successions.

“Everyone, duck!” Atsuko from beside hollered to everyone on the ship. After hearing shots fired from the cannons of the other remaining ships, she was forced to direct everyone’s attention at an incoming danger. “Down, everyone, down!”

Without hesitating, all of the members on board quickly laid low, ceasing all of their activities. Black cannonballs zipped past over their heads, and the sound of heavy weight balls landed in the water could be heard.

Assured that the enemy won’t be firing anymore for a short amount of time, everyone got back up on their two feet and finished reloading the cannons.

“Captain, reload is complete!” Yuko announced, waving her hands in the air for the captain.

Minami clearly saw the waving figure and nodded. With another bark of commands, cannons were fired on both directions once again. Explosions were met and heard coming from the left and right, wiping off all traces of the small ships on the premise.

“All enemies have been wiped out on this side, captain!” Mayu updated their status, pumping her fist into the air as though she had won a huge gambling contest.

“We just need to take care of this big bad mother ship,” the driver grumbled to herself, twisting the wheel so the ship would have better aim at firing against their last opponent. This, however, would also lead to the enemy being able to open fire with equal amount of advantages as them.

The bell began to ring violently along with the lit candle lamp swinging hectically as the ship forcefully turned to the right. It didn’t even take a full five seconds for engagement to be activated at full force. Their cannons began spitting out the cannonballs once again between the two ships. Despite the members bracing themselves for the assault, some of the balls managed to knock out a couple wooden parts of the ship.

“C-Crap! That was way too close!” Kitahara Rie screamed out in alarm from down below, nearly having a 24 pound cannonball come right at her direction. She shuddered and fell backward as it, instead, blew off the railings on her side. Luckily the cannons were locked into its place securely, preventing them from sliding forward nor backward and potentially hurting the members or falling into the raging water from below.

Minami knew they can’t linger in a heated battle. If they drag it out any longer than needed, it'll only increasing the risk of failing and possibly sinking into the storming sea. That was the last thing she ever wanted to see happen.

“Tch… We need to either get on that ship or blow it up into smithereens…” She then began pondering of a plan that could get them out of this tensed situation. There was no time to spare, and every single variable and idea is valuable at a time like this. Thankfully, the captain was able to grasp a few loose straws, toss them together, and boil up a plan that would be able to solve this problem. “Ah—I finally got it!”

To Atsuko’s surprise, she was forced hold onto the railings in front of her when Minami rashly made the ship turn even further to the right. At this point, the ship was beginning to tilt at an angle where members are forced to steady themselves with an object or equipment. A couple of ‘Hey!’ were heard from above their heads; the four members were desperately hanging for dear life on the shrouds.

“W-What are you doing, Bakamina--! Wait, are you seriously going to go directly up to the enemy’s ship!?”

The co-captain was met with a grin from her partner, which was followed by a chuckle.

“Just watch me, Acchan!”

“God, Bakamina… Don't make this ship sink!” she narrowed her eyes, still clinging to the railings as her captain began to order the members.

“I want those on the swivel cannons to fire at any possible explosive gunpowder! If there isn’t any, we’ll use the cannons combined to sink the ship!”

It wasn’t long till their ship came upon the enemy’s. From the swiveler’s point of view on the right, they saw a couple of gunpowder barrels in a heap. Bad news for the red coats: they were all located right smack dab in the center of the ship, and clearly in the line sight of the swivel users.

“Here we go!” Mariko blurted out in a playful manner before firing her cannon along with Haruka.

Seconds later, an impact was made on the ship. The ship exploded in a vicious and ferocious volume compared to the other small three ships that met their fates with cannonballs only. Burning and crumbling, the ship slowly began to sink to the bottom of the sea as surviving enemy officers and crew members leapt into the raging water.

All of the other members cautiously examined their surroundings, hoping to see that the coast is clear in the rainy weather. Minami and Atsuko too had to double check that they weren’t played into the enemy’s trap. Though after a couple minutes of silence, Sashihara Rino then responded, “I think so…”

Everyone’s eyes fell upon the captain, focusing on the ponytailed female. A hand releasing its hold of the wheel’s handle, it balled into a fist as she raised it into the air.